🎧 How to Pick The Only Password You’ll Ever Need

Your passwords almost surely suck! Let's face it - it's a juggling act - remembering all those passwords. Guess how many people use the password 12345678 or 345678 or PASSWORD? For some unknown reason the word MONKEY is another hot one. If you don't know much about password security going into the show - I assure you you'll know plenty by the end of the show...

This week I talk with Chris Romeo on why humans are so horribly bad at picking good passwords and why this invariably makes you vulnerable to hacking. We discuss password managers and how to create the one and only password you should ever need. Along the way, we’ll explain things like two-factor authentication, how often you should be changing your passwords, and how to make sure your accounts can still be accessible if the worst happens.

In the news this week, I’ll tell you about a nasty WiFi bug that affects just about every smartphone on the market and why you will be vulnerable on public hotspots until you download the fix. Popular password manager LastPass also fixed a serious flaw in their browser plugin, though in this case, you’re probably already protected by the auto-update feature in your browser. And finally, I’ll answer a listener’s question about defending against ransomware and whether having a firewall will help.

Chris Romeo is CEO and co-founder of Security Journey. His passion is to bring security belt programs to all organizations, large and small. He was the Chief Security Advocate at Cisco Systems for five years, where he guided Cisco’s Security Advocates, empowering engineers to “build security in” to all products at Cisco. He led the creation of Cisco’s internal, end-to-end security belt program launched in 2012. Chris has twenty years of experience in security, holding positions across the gamut, including application security, penetration testing, and incident response. Chris holds the CISSP and CSSLP.

Carey Parker began programming computers in middle school when personal computers were just starting to become popular. For years, these twin interests percolated until he attended Purdue University and he learned you could get paid to do this stuff – it was called Electrical Engineering! After obtaining a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in EE, Carey wrote software for multiple companies, large and small. In recent years, particularly after the Edward Snowden revelations in 2013, he became deeply concerned about computer security and privacy. In 2014, he combined his passion for computers, cybersecurity and fantasy novels with the long-time desire to write the book: Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons.